Ok but as you can see there is nothing like the original. As we can expect these pulleys sit much more rigid in the cage plate centered with those big "rims". And personally my concern regarding the chain in this application would be with the lower pulley which can be made somewhat safe with a as short as possible chain and a parelelogram spring with more tension.

There's two types of weight weenies: (1) those for who weight is everything. (2) performance weenies who place a high value on the advantage of lightness. I think this succeeds wonderfully at #1 but for #2, I agree it falls a bit short. For one, those pulleys look like bushings rather than ball-bearing based, and that adds significant friction if so. Second, I agree the rigidness may be a concern: it the pulleys come out of alignment due to lateral loads then it will twist the chain which may contribute to drivetrain loss.

When I contemplate getting a Dremel and taking it to my Red derailleur, which has very good (perhaps not the best available... watching those Tiso bearings spin @ NAHBS was truly impressive) pulleys, I wonder if the decrease in rigidity will offset the 10 grams or whatever saved. With many parts I can justify decreased strength or stiffness based on my body mass which is well below the design point for mass-market equipment, but the derailleur load is mass-independent.

It would be interesting to send this to Friction Facts, which from what I can tell does the best testing out there right now.

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